Obama's Thursday Night Task

By Dan Balz
DENVER -- When she spoke to the Democratic convention on Tuesday night, Hillary Clinton asked her supporters: "Were you in this campaign just for me?" It was a telling question designed to force her loyalists to think about the stakes of the election.

Barack Obama needs to ask and answer the same question on Thursday night. He needs, in the estimation of many Democrats at this convention, to say to the millions of voters still making up their minds that his presidential campaign "is not about me."

The Republicans are working hard to make Americans believe that he thinks the opposite. The celebrity ads, the description of Obama as "The One" and the undercurrent of commentary that he is self-absorbed all are designed to make it more difficult for Obama to connect directly with the voters who will decide this election. Thursday's speech is the moment for him to answer back.

To be fair to Obama, he has always advanced the argument that he is merely a vehicle for the aspirations of others. In his announcement speech in Springfield, Ill., on that frigid winter day in 2007, he put it this way:

"This campaign can't only be about me," he said. "It must be about us. It must be about what we can do together. This campaign must be the occasion, the vehicle of your hopes and your dreams. It will take your time, your energy and your advice to push us forward when we're doing right and let us know when we're not."

That message spawned a movement that helped Obama defeat the Clinton forces in the long battle for the Democratic nomination, a movement of people who will celebrate their remarkable achievement Wednesday evening when Obama is formally nominated as the first African American to lead a major party ticket in the country's history.

That movement is not one composed mostly of party regulars and party insiders, although there are plenty of them who count among Obama front line. They are instead a coalition of the young who are getting their first taste of the excitement of a political movement and older voters whose sense of idealism and possibility has been rekindled by Obama's powerful appeal.

They are well represented enough in the Pepsi Center in Denver but the convention floor is still more representative of party insiders than the citizen army at the heart of his campaign. The nation will see this movement in full when Obama takes the stage at Invesco Field on Thursday night before a stadium packed with perhaps 80,000 people -- and they are likely to speak with a roar when he arrives to speak to them.

That army and the enthusiasm behind it lies at the heart of Obama's organizing strategy for the fall campaign. Obama has built his campaign team around a cadre of political organizers who believe that one of the great underwritten stories of this election could be the enthusiasm gap between the McCain and Obama candidacies and their capacity to convert that energy into a turnout operation that will change the shape of the electorate in November.

Obama's campaign still belongs to them but they are not the only -- and probably not the prime -- audience the candidate must be thinking about when he speaks on Thursday. The voters now most critical to his hopes of winning the nomination are those who are not likely to become part of any political movement, who are not motivated primarily with appeals to change politics as we know it.

These are voters who want or need something from their government. They are receptive to appeals for change, but the changes they envision are not those of political process but of programs and actions. Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter, the host governor at this convention, said they are people like one of his brothers, a diesel mechanic.

"What my youngest brother cares most about as a diesel mechanic is that his kids are educated, that they're educated well, and that he has some way to put his kids through college," Ritter told The Post Wednesday.

Ritter said these voters care whether they have affordable health care, an affordable mortgage and whether they will have to take a second job in order to assure that those kids can get to college, even if they never did. The biggest question on their minds, he added, is whether Obama has a plan to create jobs and opportunities that will allow them to achieve those goals.

That means Obama's message must not only be that his campaign is about them -- and not about him -- but that he be able to describe for them how he will do what Ritter says he must do. That's been an underlying concern here this week, voiced in both public and private, raising the stakes for Obama on Thursday.

In the end, every convention -- at least those in the modern era that are heavily scripted -- comes down to one speech. The nominee's moment in prime time defines how people remember what happened, about whether a convention was a success or a missed opportunity. Everything else is prelude.

Thursday night will be all about Barack Obama and to some extent the cheering crowd at the Broncos' football stadium. But his message must start to resonate with those who want the campaign and the next administration to be about them.

By STEVE GUTTERMAN
The Associated Press
Thursday, August 28, 2008; 8:36 PM
MOSCOW -- Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin accused the United States on Thursday of instigating the fighting in Georgia and said he suspects a connection to the U.S. presidential campaign _ a contention the White House dismissed as "patently false."

In a decision he said was unrelated to unraveling Russia-U.S. ties, Putin also ordered that 19 American poultry producers be barred from selling their products to Russia. He said the unnamed companies ignored demands that they correct alleged deficiencies.

Putin, the former president and architect of an assertive foreign policy that has stoked East-West tension, suggested in an interview with CNN that there was an American presence amid the combat with a potential domestic U.S. political motive.

"We have serious grounds to think that there were U.S. citizens right in the combat zone" during Russia's war with the U.S.-allied ex-Soviet republic, he said the interview broadcast on state-run Russian television. "And if that's so, if that is confirmed, it's very bad. It's very dangerous."

Putin's acid attack on the United States came as Moscow's bid to redraw Georgia's borders hit an obstacle among its Asian allies who refused to recognize the two Russian-backed breakaway regions of Georgia. France, meanwhile, said the European Union is considering sanctions against Russia for its conduct in the Caucasus.

Putin said that Russia had hoped the U.S. would restrain Georgia, which Moscow accuses of starting the war by attacking South Ossetia on Aug. 7. Instead, he suggested the U.S. encouraged the nation's leadership to try to rein in the separatist region by force.

"The American side in fact armed and trained the Georgian army," Putin said. "Why hold years of difficult talks and seek complex compromise solutions in interethnic conflicts? It's easier to arm one side and push it into the murder of the other side, and it's over.

"It seems like an easy solution. In reality it turns out that it's not always so," he said.

The United States has close ties with the Georgian government and has trained Georgian units. The Pentagon has said that the U.S. had about 130 trainers in Georgia when the fighting erupted earlier this month, including a few dozen civilians who were all working to prepare the Georgian forces for deployment to Iraq.

But Russian officials have made statements aimed to convey the idea that Americans may have directly supported Georgia's offensive.

At a briefing Tuesday, the deputy chief of Russian military general staff, Col. Gen. Anatoly Nogovitsyn, showed off a color copy of what he said was a U.S. passport found in a basement in a village in South Ossetia among items that belonged to Georgian forces.

"We found a passport for Michael Lee White," Nogovitsyn said. "He's a Texan."

An e-mail making the rounds purports to cite quotations from Sen. Barack Obama's memoir, Dreams from My Father. Most of the quotes have to do with Obama's thoughts on race relations and growing up as a black man in America. Many of the quotes are real, though taken out of context and edited for maximum negative effect.

The e-mail was sent to us by 20 PolitiFact readers who said they wanted to know if the claims were true. (For more on the e-mail and a link to its full text, read our article on the e-mail and Obama's book.)

One quote stands out as totally false.

"I found a solace in nursing a pervasive sense of grievance and animosity against my mother's race."

We read the book, and thought this line sounded out of place. To be doubly sure, we purchased an electronic edition of the book via ebooks.com, and searched for the words solace, grievance or animosity. We were not able to find the sentence, or anything close to the sentence, in Obama's book.

The quote is actually lifted from an article in the American Conservative. Author Steve Sailer wrote a detailed analysis of Dreams from My Father, describing the narrator as "a humor-impaired Holden Caulfield whose preppie angst is fueled by racial regret" but also praising it as "an impressive book" with an "elegant, carefully wrought prose style."

The "grievance" quote comes from the following passage:

"In reality, Obama provides a disturbing test of the best-case scenario of whether America can indeed move beyond race. He inherited his father’s penetrating intelligence; was raised mostly by his loving liberal white grandparents in multiracial, laid-back Hawaii, where America’s normal race rules never applied; and received a superb private school education. And yet, at least through age 33 when he wrote Dreams from My Father, he found solace in nursing a pervasive sense of grievance and animosity against his mother’s race."

But those are Sailer's words, not Obama's. It's an arguable point whether it's a fair characterization of the views expressed in Obama's book. The bottom line is an e-mailer somewhere took the sentence, rewrote it, and passed it off as Obama's words. For this reason, we rate this statement Pants on Fire!

hink of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.
George Carlin
US comedian and actor (1937 - 2008)

This exact same bill passed later at teh Federal level in the Senate with 100% support which means that Obama is a radical extremist when it comes to abortion. Biden, Clinton, Boxer, Feinstien...al of them voted to protect infants born alive...but not Obama.

Why don't some of you Obama lovers read some of the crap in his book, it's all there to see-

From Dreams of My Father: 'I ceased to advertise my mother's race at the age of 12 or 13, when I began to suspect that by doing so I was ingratiating myself to whites.'

From Dreams of My Father : 'I found a solace in nursing a pervasive sense of grievance and animosity against my mother's race.'

From Dreams of My Father: 'There was something about him that made me wary, a little too sure of himself, maybe. And white.'

From Dreams of My Father: 'It remained necessary to prove which side you were on, to show your loyalty to the black masses, to strike out and name names.'

From Dreams of My Father: 'I never emulate white men and brown men whose fates didn't speak to my own. It was into my father's image, the black man, son of Africa , that I'd packed all the attributes I sought in myself , the attributes of Martin and Malcolm, DuBois and Mandela.'

From Audacity of Hope: 'I will stand with the Muslims should the political winds shift in an ugly direction.'

There is great fear in some parts of these United States today. That fear is that someone other than a white male will be elected President of the United States.

Ah the fear! Hide our women! Send our children to England for protection! Our position of privilege is in jeopardy! Our minimum wage jobs will be lost! Our women will want equal pay for equal work! Our children will marry outside the pure white race. Yes, there is great fear.

There is only one hope. And that hope is 72 year old John McCain.

From one of his seven (or eight or eleven) homes, old man John McCain will walk into our lives in his $520 dollar shoes to save us. He will leave his wife's private jet and do battle with the black man. Old man John survived some time in a POW camp some 40 years ago and he has earned the right forever to battle, to win, and to spend wife number two's 100 million inheiritance. And old man John is not afraid to tell you that. Why old man John McCain will keep our sons, daughters, spouses, and friends in uniform for maybe 100 years in Iraq, Afghanistan, Iran, Georgia, and any other place his little old heart desires.

To evoke an earlier poster: "There are some brainwashed idiots commenting here. "Obama a closet Muslim"? Are you serious? . Obama is 100 times the Christian most Republicans are, let alone the morons posting on this thread."

So right, why smear his name and try so hard to make him appear Muslim? How could he pray to Mecca five times a day and serve in the Senate? Oh, that is right, these are typical Republican scare tactics. More of the Same = Mcain

"McCain employs more women and pays them more than the men, Obama employs less women and pays them less."-posted by Bruce

How do you know? Are you his accountant?

What about his ex-wife that he constantly cheated on before kicking to the curb when he found his current wife? All because she suffered a debilitating injury that left her shorter and eventually heavier than the model she was when he married her. What a stand-up guy. What strong moral fiber. He sure is a supporter of women...

I have been in this country for 7 years and when I arrived I was struck at how poor and uneducated most blacks are. I could never figure out why most had children out of wedlock, sold drugs, and were in jail. Also, they have the highest rate of HIV!

I suppose it is the slave metality from generations ago but at some point they will have to take responsibility. I think that is the reason Senator Obama appeals to so many whites because he isn't 100% black. He has a black face but the mentality of a white person. That makes the vote palatable and they can feel good about themselves. I doubt many of these white voters would go for an Al Sharpton or Jesse Jackson - just too black and they are for more representative of the black American - not Barack Obama.

Looks like some of Hillary's former supporters are stabbing her in the back supporting Mccain out of bitterness, She lost this round! get over it! We need a Democrat! How can you ignore that!? Some people are so selfish and bitter!

No Rusty! The American Dream is slipping fast through our hands. Pretty soon will have to count on the rest of the World to bail us out of the current mess we're in. Oh, I forgot they hate us now more than ever because of failed deplomacy and military flexing and acting unilaterally and giving the middle finger to all of the world. Well, If that's the American Dream. I'd prefer to never sleep again!!!!

No Rusty! The American Dream is slipping fast through our hands. Pretty soon will have to count on the rest of the World to bail us out of the current mess we're in. Oh, I forgot they hate us now more than ever because of failed deplomacy and military flexing and acting unilaterally and giving the middle finger to all of the world. Well, If that's the American Dream. I'd prefer to never sleep again!!!!

It just astounds me how many people here think that their uninformed posts are taken seriously. I mean the hatred and vitrol spewed here about Obama is just sad. I can see if you knew the man but you dont! The lies you try to propagate here only confirms your lack of judgement, character and credibility.

It just astounds me how many people here think that their uninformed posts are taken seriously. I mean the hatred and vitrol spewed here about Obama is just sad. I can see if you knew the man but you dont! The lies you try to propagate here only confirms your lack of judgement, character and credibility.

The American dream is fading. For some time, the Republican Party has courted the increasing number of folks who've lost the dream. Those people are ready to receive hateful advertising and so the Republicans create it. I see quite a few reflecting those views on this web site. My point is not to champion one or another politician but just to note the amount of hate in these comments and suggest it is fueled by the fading of the American dream for so many. Rich people get rich and stay rich because they know how to use people, yet it still surprises me that rich Republicans can steal the American dream yet simultaneously attract those who they have taken it from. Another way of saying this: If the high price of gas affects you, you should not be voting for a Republican.

Obama has already moved to the right and abandoned his alleged beliefs and his supporters.

He will clearly do anything to win, has no allegiance or principles, and you can expect him to be like George Bush.

He is a user, and covers his ugliness with an adept tongue.

Posted by: It does take a Clinton to fix things | August 28, 2008 3:04 PM
| Report abuse

All those brainwashed, selfish, and racist republicans who look for any way to scare the rest of the country of Obama will have to swallow their pride and eat their words when the man will beat McCain EASILY by double digits come November! Mark my words - once these 2 debate and the American public starts to see through the propaganda and realize what a no-brainer this is, it won't even be a race by November. Polls are just another way to fool people - the true votes will determine where we stand. And it's not with another dumb republican who overachieved by knowing the right people and marrying into wealth (see a pattern here?) The true injustice to our security will be to allow 4 more years of this - McCain will probably invade Russia and Iran - and leave us vulnerable in the process at home. Vote McCain and watch how this "superpower" drops well below China, India, Russia, etc...

the most amazing thing about this election is the stupidity of the media and journalists. Why are you losers always writing what "Obama needs to do" what "Mc
Cain needs to do". If you are such geniuses, why don't you run for president yourself instead of spending your time on a desk pulling those down that are out there, try to change something.

For those of us on the inside we've been prepared for this. Bill and Hillary had to do this in order to get the full Democratic Party behind her in 2012.

Remember just two days before his speech, Bill Clinton talked about candidate X and candidate Y. Where candidate X (Obama) agrees with you on 100% of the issues but you don't beleive he can deliver on anything. Candidate Y (McCain) agrees with you on 50% of the issues but you know he can deliver. For whom will you vote? Of course, you will vote for Candidate Y if you want to get something done.

Expect much more of this mind of thing from now until November.

Yes, we've gotten the message. Support McCain this year and Hillary will be President in 2012.

BTW, as a Catholic, I can make peace with Hillary who wants abortion to be "legal and RARE". Under Obama our party has removed the word "rare" from the Democratic platform. That's because about $1500 of every abortion Planned Parenthood does goes to the Democratic Party and Obama wants more of that cash.

Obama supports letting babies born alive (after a botched late term abortion) be left to die alone and unloved in a closet and denyed medical care. I know the owrk of Satan when I see it. Do you?

Pennsylvania for McCain in 2008 and Hillary in 2012
PUMAs
The Denver Group

It is pretty funny for Republicans to claim that Obama wasn't born in this country when in fact John McCain was not born in this country, McCain was born in Panama and under the Constitution is not allowed to be president.

Obama stole the primary using Bush florida tactics. His chicago mobster type thugs have made a joke of the democratic party.

Posted by: Hillary2012 | August 28, 2008 12:02 PM
--------------
That is just a plain lie.

I live in Florida so I can tell you something about it. Because the state moved its primary up none of the candidates were allowed to campaign there.

I know people that would have voted for Obama but were told it wouldn't count and joined the Republican Party to vote for antiwar candidate Ron Paul. Hillary Clinton and Rudy Giuliani are both celebrity candidates, both led their respective parties in the polls; the difference is when Rudy had other candidates campaign in Florida he lost, Hillary had no candidates campaigning in Florida and she won. It was an unfair primary as the candidates couldn't campaign in Florida and that favors Hillary.

To blame Obama is wrong. Blame the Florida state Democrats that joined with local Republicans to move the primary up, that is what caused the problem.

I voted for George W. Bush in 2000 and 2004, and I regret having done it. I thought he would be a lot more compassionate and would surround himself with good people. Now I feel the same way about John McCain.

I'm ashamed for the GOP and I'm voting for Obama to send a message that they need to get away from Karl Rove and big oil and get back to Lincoln and Teddy Roosevelt.

The John McCain I've seen in this election is scary. I worry for my kids when I hear him talk about bombing Iran and keeping the same failed economic policies of Bush in place. I just don't think any real fiscal or national security conservative like me can take him seriously anymore. He just smears and smears. What happened to the party of Reagan and fresh ideas for America?

For the people who are considering voting for John McCain, just consider that McCain, along with his good ol buddy George W. has WILLINGLY sent over 4,000 young americans to an early death and condemned thousands of others to permanent disabilities, all for the sole purpose of enriching themselves and their cronies. What sort of a person would do this? Certainly not a sane one. You may not like all of Obama's ideas and I certainly don't, but I defy anyone to name ANY ideas that McCain and his good ol buddy George W. have had in the last 8 years that haven't ended up in disaster for the (non-millionaire) people in this country.

I hope that Hispanic voters realize that if Baracky Hussein Obama becomes President, they will be at the bottom of the barrel - Baracky Hussein Obama will have to pacify the Black voters after gaining 99 % of their vote.

Scottish Girl
Had you actually watched the convention cover you would have seen Obama's sister speak. Michelle's mother was sitting out in the audience. Obama's war hero uncle was also present. His mother is not alive, one grandmother is too weak to travel the other grandmother is in Kenya.

I have to say,I am encouraged by the energy of those who think. I feel sorry for those who consider themselves American but, have no idea what America is about. Makes you wonder where people like JaxMax actually get their information, how they could call themselves christian and still be so prejudiced and able to quote scripture verse without the slightest idea what it means.
OBAMA '08

bizarre convoluted logic or something else at work: hillary 2012 complains of Bush whom McCain supported 90% or more of the time but won't vote for Obama with whom Hillary would be much more closely aligned politically than McCain. To hell with political ideas from which people suffer or gain, I guess, and up with personality perceptions based on who knows what!

Scottish Girl - I would have found it weirder if they had been there since they are dead. One of his grandmothers lives in Hawaii but perhaps she is not healthy enough to travel. You could probably figure this stuff out if you did your own research.

Obama stole the primary using Bush florida tactics. His chicago mobster type thugs have made a joke of the democratic party.

Obama does not represent the center moderates Bill did so much to bring to the party. We will not tolerate Obama and are voting for McCain.

I voted for Hillary because I like her values and judgement. She can ask me to vote for Obama but she does not own me. I realize she is saying and doing what she has to for the long term good of the party and her 2012 presidential run.

I hope Obama addresses domestic issues; i think he beats McCain every time on the economy, health care, education. I hope he focuses on foreign relations because the GOP has attempted to paint him as naive and not ready for the challenge. I was so heartened to hear John Kerry and Joe Biden speak of all of times McCain and Bush got it so wrong, and Obama was right, i.e., timetable for withdrawal, using diplomacy with Iran, more troops in Afghanistan. I have been waiting for that to come out since Obama became the nominee. i still want someone besides Dennis Kucinich to say that we were lied to, and that the war in Iraq was a foregone conclusion within a few weeks of 9/11; that the Bush administration has thrown the Constitution out the window. I know Obama can't say those things tonight. But, I hope that the American people will really listen over the next two months. Our civil liberties are shot, the economy is terrible, and our stature around the world is gone. this all happened in only 8 years! Even if you don't like Obama, at least he recognizes all of these issues and actually wants to try something different! even if it fails, it's better than continuing down this horrible path.

Scottish girl, Michelle's mom and family were there the night when she spoke and did appear on stage. Obama's mother is dead and one of his grandmother is in Kenya. The biden speech was great, and also the speeches of former President Clinton and Senator Hillary Clinton. I hope Clinton supporters can see beyond this Obama-Clinton ticket ordeal and vote democrat, because no matter our differences, it is nowhere near the differences we have with John Mccain.

Having watched tonights convention...Biden did a great job of giving recognition to his mother who was in the box with Michelle and Mrs. Biden. Joe told of the values his mother instilled who made him who he is today.

FOR ME....THAT JUST MADE ME WONDER SO WHERE IS OBAMA'S MOMMA? GRANDMOMMA? Or even for that matter a family member or Michelle's momma....???Am I the only one who found this WEIRD?

Are you getting tired of the fear and smear Republican attacks being promulgated in virtually every media outlet? In the blogs it has become so extreme that provable outright lies are SHOUTED at anyone and everyone that dares to disagree with their attacks.

Thank God there are millions of sane (albeit somewhat misguided) Republicans out there. Increasingly my Republican friends are becoming concerned at these "fear and smear" attacks, seeing that these are no substitute for a reasoned and well argued plan for our country. These "moderate" Republicans are deciding to abstain from the upcoming election and some (actually nearly 20%) of my Republican friends are actively considering crossing to the "dark side".

So you Repuglican thugs just keep doing what you are doing, lie, cheat, create fear where none exists and reap the whirlwind come November.

Your reasons for voting for McCain are as poor as all other bitter Democrats that are switching parties in this election. You clearly don't have values that share the best interests of this country if you are going to flip parties for a candidate who has mastered flip-flopping. Your assertion that Barack is merely going to "sip tea" with the leaders of countries like Iran is just plain ignorant. Clearly, ignoring and refusing to talk with these leaders has not panned out too well for us. Bipartisanship is a core strength in a candidate, and opening the doors for open talk is the only way to arrange an agreement/peaceful outcome. Our foreign policy has failed miserably, and so Barack is trying something different...actually communicating with these countries, trying to understand where they are coming from, and making efforts at peace and diplomacy.

OK people as ignorant as JaxMax should not be allowed to vote: AKA racists. Barack's core constituency is NOT made up of just African Americans--it is comprised of Democrats that are attuned to his message of change, which includes people from a variety of racial backgrounds. I'm guessing that JaxMax believes Bush is intelligent when he claims Barack is stupid. Racist, uninformed people with blind faith in Christian Republican candidates like this are holding our country back from progress and change. Open your eyes, look at the current state of the world and the US's role in the damage, and it is impossible to deny that Barack's vision and leadership is our best option in the coming election. As for his need to restate the obvious--that his campaign and presidency is about "us" and not him--this may be true, but because of the ridiculous number of personal attacks on him, he has had to defend himself in ways that narrow the presidential debate solely to his race, religion, and personal life. This is no fault of his--it is that of the media, competing candidates, and, quite frankly, our crappy political process. Americans need to read between the lines, get over their outdated prejudices, and think about the future that they want for their kids before the vote this November.

My comments are to jaxmax and rafid. You are posting on the wrong web site. This is a serious one with serious people trying to have a real discussion about real issues. You need to go to www.kkk or to the cartoon sites. You really do not belong here. I know, I know - you are free to go wherever you want under the Constitution. I ask you only in the name of not wasting everyone's valuable time. And not show how utterly foolish you really are.

The main thing that throws me about this whole Obama not picking Clinton ordeal is that how some Democrats can just switchg parties to vote for Mccain because Hillary wasn't selected. If Hillary would have won it would have been the same with African Americans being outraged, but would never vote for John Mccain, because his beliefs and policies are flawed and geared toward the demise of America.

In order to reverse his falling poll numbers, Barack Obama needs to do two things:

1. Explain how he proposes to increase federal spending and tax credits for "worthy" groups without increasing the federal budget deficit and without major tax hikes on the middle class. Raising taxes on corporations and "the rich" will not do the job.

2. Explain how he proposes to make America safe in a world where the KGB once again runs Russia, Venezuela is run by a Castro-style dictator, Islamic radicals still want to repeat 9/11 and Iran is close to getting nuclear weapons. Proposing that we sit down and chat with anyone who wants a cup of tea is not good enough.

you're right, its not about barack obama. this election is about our future as a country and the ability to restore our economy, strengthen the dollar, rebuild our international alliances and keep america safe vs economic collapse and unilateralist catastrophe that the gop recommends. its easy- be smart with others OR be dumb alone.

Senator Obama has already miserably failed the task that Americans have been waiting to see if he could do. By not selecting Senator Clinton as his Vice Presidential nominee, he sent a clear signal that indeed, this historic election, is 'all about him.' This November, millions of voters will remind Senator Obama that the election is not about him afterall.

My god there are some brainwashed idiots that comment here. "Obama a closet Muslim"? Are you serious?
That and all the biblical prophecy crap is rediculous. Obama is 100 times the Christian that most Republicans are, let alone the morons posting on this thread.

The columns are to emulate the Lincoln Memorial, where MLK spoke for civil rights 45 years ago. Those of you who support McCain wouldn't have suppored MLK either. You are short sighted, xenophobic and quite frankly not very smart.

Obama has no understanding of the fact that his position is one of a representative leader, meaning all decisions are not "Barack Obama's and Barack Obama's alone."
It doesn't matter what he says in his speeches, his actions speak louder than words. This guy is interested only in surrounding himself with loyalists who agree with his opinions and won't challenge him (where have we seen this before?). His challenge is indeed giving the impression that he is even a little bit willing to listen to other opinions and to share information with the public rather than making all his decisions behind closed doors and then handing down edicts with no tolerance for dissidence or disunity.
This guy needs to show that he understands what the words representative, democracy and equality mean. I don't think he has a clue.

Just because the Democratic party has registered an unbelievable amount of new/young voters doesn't give republicans the right to compare Barack Obama to the likes of some prophet sent from GOD.The way i see it republicans are just jealous because they're negative politics haven't attracted anything but a lot more cynical,racist,angry,no-hope having,easily influenced people who listen to Scnidt show and Limbaugh everyday. These two radio talk show host are so one-sided it's ridiculous. I like to keep informed from both sides From the liberal MSNBC to the Conservative talk radio shows, but by far that B.s. that they say is fair and balanced on the conservative side is no far fetched. All i am saying is Obama is the best choice in NOvember and he will help this country start rebuilding from the big hole the republicans have dug for the future generation.

“McCain is like a Grumpy Elephant with no vision and a flip flopping memory! There is a reason this Elephant is always attacking without a postive message. His trainers are Rove & Schmidt at the circus! We know what to expect at the McCain’s convention a Grumpy Elephant entwining his trunk with 2 Rogue elephants in Bush/Cheney with two cheering trainers in Rove & Schmidt who are trying to sell the American People a 3 rd George Bush Term.” RFK

To hafid and JaxMax... wow, I'm stunned by your prejudice and ignorance.

Instead of trying to interpret the mind of God or to plumb the depths of America's racial fears, why don't you take a moment to examine the issues? Politics is not for saints (and Obama certainly isn't one nor does he claim to be) but do you really take these smears seriously? Can't you see how obviously they seek to manipulate your vote (and can't you notice just how stupid they assume the average voter to be)? Politics is about money and power (really just different words for the same thing). Right now (and it seems in the offing from McCain) the power and money is increasingly in the hands of a self-serving, self-feeding elites. All I'm asking for is competant public education, a moral and just foreign policy, and a safety net for those who are sick, old, or otherwise incapable of surviving in our economy.

If there is a religious message in Obama's campaign why not try reading Matthew 25:31-46. Then ask yourself why you're standing amongst all the goats.

It doesn't seem that anyone cares about the Bible, or the moral decline of our country. They don't care if we are taxed more, or if the programs that are put into place only serve to disable hard working blue collar Americans by taking their hard earned money and having it distributed out to all of those programs so that we can "all be equal"...Hey, there is a system that has been implemented in other countries that "all are equal", everyone has affordable health care, affordable housing...they call this communism. So, If Obama is elected, let's discuss this in the line for the hospital (hope we are treated in time), here, I'll share my block of government issued cheese with you...Wait, on second thought, you have your own. Please vote on what is best for our country, not on color, or something that just appears to be a good thing. This is about the USA,our children, not Democrats or Republican, black or white, or male or female.

I agree with you Junkie, Obama really need to go out there and show the American people this candidacy is strictly for them. He also need to acknowledge the unprecedented campaign that his democratic collegue( a woman) has ran. That speech Hillary gave last night was all about party solidarity, and for her to pour out her heart like that was the best thing she could have done for her sake, Obama's sake, and for the United States of America. Hey uh, JaxMax, I read the antichrist verses in Revelations and they stated the anti-christ will be someone who was born in one of those arab countries east of the United States; Barack Obama was born in Hawaii.

Obama needs to highlight the following areas in his speech Thursday night:

1) Acknowledge his supporters and the problems that America faces moving forward.

2) Acknowledge Hillary's (and Bill to some degree) historic run in the broad contest of women rights and reiterate the call for unity against the Republican attack machine.

3) Explain his core policies for a future Obama presidency in simple terms regarding the economy, national security, education, health care, jobs, taxes, energy, and justice. These core policies needed to be contrasted with that of McCain's policies and positions, even doing some slight digs at McCain for past gaffes.

4) Finally, Obama needs to close with some of that high soaring rhetoric that America fell in love with early in the primary season. Combine that with chants of "YES WE CAN" and "FIRED UP? READY TO GO!" to get the crowd energize as he ends his speech would be like adding a "cherry" to a ice-cream sundae.

I have just seen the unbelievable photos of Obama's Temple at the Football Stadium where he will accept the Dem Nomination.

Since the news media are utter Pagans, they will not be aware of a belief by some Christians that the Book of Revelation (In the Bible) prophesies that the Antichrist will be known when he enters the Temple and declares himself God. The prophecy is also in the Old Testament in Daniel 9:24-27.

Now the Temple has to be in Jerusalem, not Denver,and Obama is quite frankly too STUPID to be the Antichrist, but the imagery is unbelievably divisive.

And African Americans, his core constituency, are some of the strongest Christians with detailed knowledge of Bible prophecy.